Horseshoe Bend is a popular location to witness the complete U shape meander of the mesmerizing Colorado River below. It’s situated almost at the place where the Grand Canyon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World begins, just 4 miles from the town of Page. While 5 miles downstream is the impressive Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States.

The overlook is 1,000-feet (300 m) above the river itself and can be accessed via a 1.5-mile round-trip hike.

The soft light of sunset reflects off an Elk stag as he stands proudly in between grazing along the Canyon edge. He shows off his elegant set of antlers at the top of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

These 15th-century temples of Ta Prohm were so well built that even after many centuries in the jungle they still stand today. Trees grow out of the ruins as their extraordinary root structures seek new gripping points wherever possible.

Angkor Wat is the world’s largest religious monument, which includes temples, reservoirs, and canals. The website ‘World Archaeology’ describes Angkor Wat as “the most extensive urban complex in the pre-industrial world.”

During the fall the lure of greens and reflections studded with the reds and yellows were mesmerizing while I enjoyed a brief moment in time at a lake on the Vanderbilt Estate near Asheville.

This is one of the most amazing properties to visit, so if you’re in the area it’s a must. The Vanderbilts are an American family that through Cornelius Vanderbilt created great success with the shipping and railroad empires. The family expanded into numerous other areas of industry and philanthropy. Cornelius Vanderbilt’s descendants went on to build several grand mansions, one of which was the palatial Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina.

Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone exudes such vivid colors around the edges of the mineral-rich water in the spring. These are the result of microbial mats which tend to be mainly orange and red in the summer, and usually dark green in the winter. The center of the pool is sterile due to extreme heat.

Lower Yellowstone Falls is the largest volume waterfall in the Rocky Mountains of the US. The falls are stunningly beautiful and have inspired Native American tribes, fur trappers and explorers alike, and are 308 ft (94 m) high.

This view is from the well known Artist's Point 3 miles downstream. The Falls are located just to the south east of Canyon Village in Yellowstone National Park.

Bleached remains of trees close to one of Yellowstone famous geysers. It’s not the pine wood beetle that has killed these specimens, but the toxic and ever-present hot conditions from the daily eruptions.

New pine samplings will grow nearby, however, as they age their fate will be the same. It is a saddened beauty that beholds this land.

Situated just three miles south of the Norris Geyser Basin is the generally less active Gibbon Geyser Basin. It is here where several collections of thermal features are found, of which Artists Paint Pots are the most popular.

The Paint Pots are a group of over 50 springs, geysers, vents and active mud pots. These exhibit a wild array and shades of blue, grey and brown colors with varying textures. Their behavior changes during the year depending on the amount of subterranean water.

On hiking and climbing to an overlook behind the colorful Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone, one is rewarded with an extraordinary view of this special place. The blue center of the pool is sterile due to the extreme heat produced by the hot spring, while the orange around the edges is microbial mat.

Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the US and the third largest in the world. The vivid colors around the edges of the mineral-rich water in the spring are the result of microbial mats, while the center of the pool is sterile due to extreme heat.

The amount of color in the microbial mats depends on the ratio of chlorophyll to carotenoids (organic pigments produced by plants and algae), and also on the temperature gradient in the runoff. The mats tend to be mainly orange and red in the summer, and usually dark green in the winter.

In midsummer water lillies cover Isa Lake in Yellowstone National Park.

The lake is situated right on the Continental Divide at Craig Pass between Old Faithful and West Thumb. Geographers call it a drainage divide or boundary between two watersheds, one which flows to the Atlantic Ocean, the other to the Pacific Ocean.

A flash of color while walking from Artists Point on Uncle Tom's Trail to the Lower Falls in Yellowstone. This steep trail takes you from the top of Yellowstone's Grand Canyon down to the base of the 308-foot-high Lower Falls.

The walk down 500 feet is fairly strenuous, however, in 1905 Uncle Tom lowered you by rope!

View of part of the Upper Terraces showing the calcium carbonate deposits created after the hot spring water has cooled. Getting about the complex is easy as boardwalks cover nearly 1.75 miles around the Upper and Lower Terraces.

Mammoth Hot Springs are located just south of the North Entrance to Yellowstone, near the town of Gardiner in Montana.

Crabtree Falls is a 70 ft. cascade located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, north of Asheville and near to Linville Falls. It’s usually a gentle flowing delicate waterfall, however, after a spate of hurricanes in the fall of 2017, the falls were in full flow.

A park ranger informed us that a mother bear and her two cubs are regularly to be seen playing at the base of these falls – sadly not while we visited!

Upper Whitewater Falls is located in the western part of the state near the South Carolina and Georgia borders. It’s acclaimed to be the highest waterfall east of the Rockies with a fall of 411 feet. Lower Whitewater Falls in South Carolina’s falls is another 400 feet.

It’s the king of waterfalls in this waterfall-rich area, and easily accessible by a 1/4 mile walkway – and is wheelchair friendly. There is also a platform just 154 steps down from the main viewing point – ideal for photographers!

Dry Falls is flowing fast after a series of hurricanes and heavy rainfall that hit the area in late 2017. This weather pattern has also caused many leaves to fall earlier than usual, and so the expected vivid fall colours we are familiar with in these mountains is not being displayed.